Another Day at Beacon
by Alley Cat Sunflower
Summary: Jaune has no idea what he's doing. Nora is hyperactive. Pyrrha is composed but overwhelmed. Ren just wants some peace. Ladies and gentlemen, Team JNPR. With a room shared between these four disparate personalities, what shenanigans can ensue over the school year? Centers on Ren and Nora; Jaune and Pyrrha are just along for the ride. Various ships and friendships. I do not own RWBY!
1. Another Night with Nora

_**7:30 p.m.**_

"So, um, I'm Jaune. As you probably knew already. Uh, wh-what's your name again?"

Ren struggled not to roll his eyes as the chatty blonde boy who would be leading his team for four whole years continued to jabber on. Though it should have only taken them a few minutes to find their room, the team leader was not doing a great job of leading at the moment—they had been wandering for what could have been anywhere between five and ten minutes, and it wasn't getting any lighter.

Of course, Nora was perfectly content to wander forever; her limitless energy never failed to quietly amaze the more exhausted Ren. Pyrrha, meanwhile, seemed loath to point out that Jaune was leading them in the wrong direction—judging from the affectionate glances Ren noticed she threw in Jaune's direction, she had quite a 'thing' for him. _That'll make the team dynamic interesting, _Ren added to himself as they continued wandering aimlessly.

"I-I'm sorry," stammered Jaune, evidently half-correctly assuming Ren's characteristic silence to be a pointed one. "You're right. I should know your name by now, shouldn't I? Professor Ozpin said it was something like… like—"

"Ren," interrupted Ren, before Jaune could butcher his name, and continued walking, ignoring Pyrrha's reproachful expression. It wasn't as though he knew where they were going any more than Jaune did, but at least Ren wasn't _expected _to know. _I have to deal with this guy for _four years_?_

"Right," sighed Jaune, sounding utterly defeated, and stopped in the middle of the hallway, causing Pyrrha to crash into him—not entirely on accident, Ren thought with a wry half-smile as they straightened themselves up. "I have no idea where we're going," he added eventually, eyes downcast. "As you guys probably guessed. Any ideas?"

"There you are!"

A voice sounded in the distance—_that girl who had beheaded the Nevermore, _thought Ren, glancing over to see the girl racing towards them at top speed. As Ren instinctively flattened himself against the wall, Ruby Rose—or whatever her name was—skidded to a halt, breathing hard. "Just thought I should look for you guys, since you weren't with the rest of us," she panted. "Come on, follow me!"

Nora was more than happy to oblige, skipping along behind Ruby; Ren jogged after her, taking it on faith Jaune and Pyrrha would follow. _At least _someone _knows where we're supposed to be._

_**7:35 p.m.**_

As they reached their destination, Ren groaned under his breath: they had passed that hallway three times in their wanderings.

"Well," grinned Ruby, gesturing with awkward bravado towards one of the many doors in the corridor—roughly dead center—"here's your room! It's right across from Team RWBY's," she added as an afterthought, scuffing her foot against the floor and again looking just like a fifteen-year-old girl instead of Team JNPR's guiding light.

"Our room," repeated Pyrrha, looking somewhat surprised. "You mean… our entire team's room? All of us, male and female together?"

"Yep," responded Ruby, regarding the older girl with some curiosity: her cheeks had turned slightly pink, and Ren was surprised Jaune didn't take in the fact that she was looking directly at him. _He's a bit slow, isn't he?_

"Yay!" exclaimed Nora, beaming around at the rest of her teammates; Ren stared stonily back. "It'll be like a sleepover every night!" she added, wiggling in place with excitement—Ren reached around her back and grasped both her wrists firmly and reflexively to keep her as still as possible.

"Uh, right," responded Ruby, looking somewhat unnerved. "Well, good night," she added, turning and opening the door to her team's room just a crack. An audible gasp and incoherent yelling issued through the crack, and Ruby slammed the door again, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"That sounded like Weiss," frowned Jaune, before his eyes widened. _Maybe he isn't so slow after all._ "Did you just…"

"G-getting dressed," stammered Ruby, staring at the floor with a shellshocked expression. "The last thing I need right now is for her to find _another_ reason to yell at me…" she added miserably, before slumping to the ground. As Jaune moved forward to comfort her (Pyrrha's bright expression shifted to one of disappointment), Ren sighed and opened the door, dragging Nora inside with him so she wouldn't cause trouble without his interference.

_**7:40 p.m.**_

"I thought it would be bigger!" exclaimed Nora, with no trace of disapproval in her voice; Ren smiled slightly: she sounded as happy to discover she was wrong as anyone would be to discover they were right. _Maybe that's part of why I like her so much. _Ren had always had trouble, ever since they were very small, pinpointing why he put up with Nora's presence in his life, but—slowly but surely—he was finally beginning to find out. _It's about time. I've known her for the better part of ten years._

Nora bounced onto the nearest bed, lying flat on her back and giggling: Ren could not suppress a small smile at her contented expression, rosy cheeks, and sparkling eyes. Seeing that his luggage lay at the foot of the bed across from Nora's, Ren sat gingerly down, relieved to find his worries of an uncomfortable bed assuaged. _To have comfortable resting places should be the first rule of a combat school, _decreed Ren mentally, closing his eyes and flopping backward.

_**8:00 p.m.**_

"Hey, Ren!" exclaimed Nora; Ren stirred himself reluctantly out of pleasant half-wakefulness and propped himself up on his elbows to find Nora sitting up and hugging her knees in a way even he would describe as _adorable. _"What are you doing all the way over there, anyway?" she added, tilting her head like a confused puppy might.

"I don't know, Nora," sighed Ren, again lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. "What do you think?" He grit his teeth after asking the question, knowing she would end up tossing quite a few nonsensical answers at him in response.

It occurred to him as Nora replied that neither Pyrrha nor Jaune were in their room yet: Ren was about to interrupt her ridiculous monologue to ask what had happened to them when Nora, whom he found was suddenly leaning over him, cheerfully interjected, "Jaune-and-Pyrrha"—pronouncing the names of their teammates as one entity—"went to go take showers. Aren't you going to take one?"

"Aren't you?" responded Ren, frowning, and placed his hands lightly on Nora's shoulders, pushing her gently away from him. Predictably—Ren's muscles tensed in preparation—Nora, rather than be deterred by Ren's reaction to her presence, fell on top of him: Ren was alarmingly aware of the way her face pressed against his chest. Only because of his extensive training to regulate his breathing and heart rate did the various effects she may or may not have had on him remain hidden.

"I take my showers in the morning, silly! You know that!" exclaimed Nora, voice muffled in his chest, and Ren struggled not to laugh, eventually succumbing and letting slip a chuckle… just as Pyrrha walked through the door, of course.

Peering around Nora's head, Ren saw Pyrrha raise her eyebrows and, as Jaune wandered in behind her, noticed her cover his eyes before turning him around and escorting him back outside. Rolling his eyes, Ren sighed. "You should probably let me go take a shower now," he muttered. "This looks bad."

When Nora made no response but to attempt to blow a raspberry on his stomach, giggling all the while, Ren sighed. _Time to bring out the big guns. _Without further ado, he pinched her side lightly, and Nora flinched with a shriek of laughter: Ren nimbly clambered off his bed, leaving her facedown on the mattress, and darted across the room to open the door.

Pyrrha regarded him with some mixture of alarm and embarrassment, unable to meet his eyes. "It's not what you think," explained Ren tonelessly, seeing her expression. "Really. She's just… like that. You'll see."

"Are you two…" began Jaune, frowning confusedly.

"No," interrupted Ren, and swept down the hall, leaving the door ajar. They could take the issue up with Nora for all he cared; he had a shower to take, or Nora would never let him hear the end of it—and it was her opinion he cared about, above anyone else's. Even his other teammates.

_**8:30 p.m.**_

Ren had never thought it was a crime not to wear pajamas, but walking back from the showers wearing the same clothes he had worn on his way in (albeit minus the shoes), he received more dirty looks than he would have thought probable. Fortunately for him, he didn't much care for other people's opinions on his nonexistent pajamas.

Striding back through his team's open door, he initially thought he had entered the wrong room, almost walking out again: two of the beds had been shoved together, the other two remaining separate. Pyrrha was hardly recognizable without her ponytail, fuchsia hair hanging far past her waist as she brushed it (she wore a modest and simple white nightgown that nonetheless flattered her shape); Jaune wore the most juvenile pajamas Ren had ever seen, and he fought the urge to smirk. _I don't even _have _pajamas, and they're better than his._

Nora, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found, until she popped out from behind the open door—startling Ren enough that he took a step backwards. Nora, wearing something blue—Ren couldn't see in her blur of laughter—glomped him suddenly; he gasped for air. "I thought you'd drowned!"

"…I take long showers," responded Ren dryly, when he could breathe again. "You know that." He noticed his hands rested on her waist and immediately removed them, disentangling her arms from around his neck a moment later and taking in the nightgown she now wore (wishing he hadn't as soon as he had)._ Low-cut and high-hemmed. Though it does suit her. _Closing his eyes for a moment, he walked over to what used to be his bed—and which was now an unholy amalgamation of two beds and two sets of bedclothes that looked like they'd fall off if anyone so much as prodded them.

"…That was Nora's idea," spoke up Pyrrha, sounding apologetic.

"Of course it was," murmured Ren, and added to himself, _I wouldn't have it any other way. _Pyrrha and Jaune couldn't possibly know that Nora had harbored a fear of the dark for as long as Ren had known her, and needed someone else close by.

Nora, meanwhile, bounded across the room and somersaulted onto the adjacent bed, then sat up and gazed into Ren's pink eyes with her sky-blue ones. They maintained eye contact for a short time, but then Nora sneezed; Ren couldn't help but laugh—the sound strongly resembled that of a kitten.

"Aw," sighed Nora when she straightened up again. "I lost…"

But Ren was already undoing his ponytail, which he had put up after his shower out of habit. "No, you didn't," he corrected her, handing her the loop. "I blinked. Didn't you see?" Without further ado, he collected his hairbrush from his admittedly small bag, handing it to a beaming Nora a moment later: she snatched it and, almost before Ren had turned around, softly ran it through his hair, massaging his scalp as she went.

Even if it didn't need much brushing, who was Ren to deprive Nora of one of her favorite hobbies?

Closing his eyes contentedly, Ren allowed himself to relax into their nightly routine. On the rare occasions Nora lost their staring contest, he would invariably pretend she had won anyway—he wasn't one to mess with tradition.

Pyrrha and Jaune were staring at them, Pyrrha's mouth slightly open. Ren gave them a cold, challenging gaze, and they immediately turned back to their activities, cheeks slightly pink—Jaune was writing in some kind of a diary, and Pyrrha was reading in bed. _How are they even still awake…?_

_**8:45 p.m.**_

Ren must have nodded off again—getting tossed into a wall by a giant scorpion took a lot out of him—because when he opened his eyes, his head was resting in Nora's lap.

Not that he minded, really, but he was concerned about the effect this would have on his other two teammates. Sitting up, and ignoring Nora's feeble sound of protest, he noted that the lights had been turned out, but Pyrrha was still engrossed in her book (reading by flashlight), even if Jaune was asleep. _Good. So no one saw that and came to the wrong conclusion. …Again._

"Time for bed, Nora," sighed Ren.

Nora nodded somewhat nervously. "Ren, we're sleeping in a strange place," she mumbled, in a voice almost like a whimper. "In the dark," she added. "What if the Grimm come to get me?"

Ren suppressed a laugh with difficulty. "Nora, you fended off a fully grown Nevermore today and smashed a Deathstalker to kingdom come. I don't think Grimm will be much of a problem for us tonight."

"Us," smiled Nora. "That's more like it. Not just me against the Grimm. _You_ and me, together." _But not together-together, _finished Ren mentally, surprised when Nora didn't add her habitual amendment alongside his thoughts.

Ren lay back on his pillow without further ado, deciding not to dwell on her omission too much, and shut his eyes, but was quickly cheated out of any sleep he might have gotten in half a second when Nora poked his nose. Turning to glance at her, doing his best to be annoyed at her (and failing miserably), he muttered, "What, Nora?"

"Aren't you going to get into your pajamas? Come on, Ren, I wanted to see what they look like!" Ren could almost imagine a disembodied grin shining through the darkness from her direction before it shattered as he responded.

"Nora… I don't _have _pajamas."

Nora's eyes widened, as though this truth was shocking. "You're going to sleep in the same clothes you _fought _in today?" she asked, sounding mildly confused—or perhaps a little bit disapproving. "You can't," she added disbelievingly.

"Just watch me," mumbled Ren through his pillow.

"Nope," responded Nora, a bit more loudly than he would have preferred, though still with a cheerfulness to her words. "You change clothes _right now_, or you're not getting any sleep tonight. I'm not sleeping anywhere near someone who wears the same clothes he fought in earlier the same day!" There was a smile in her voice, but Ren knew she was serious.

"Sleep with someone else then!" exclaimed Ren, knowing it would only be another few moments before she did something to weaken his willpower still further. At this point, Nora had it down to a science—just looking at him with the right emotion in her eyes could get him to do almost anything for her.

"Please?" asked Nora quietly, just the right amount of pleading hoarseness in her voice to get Ren's heart to melt. _I knew it. _The moment was ruined, however, as Nora continued, "And, if you don't have any alternatives, then I heard Jaune mention he accidentally packed an extra set! You could always borrow his. I think it'd look cute on you!"

Ren groaned softly as he slid off the bed, mind officially made up, and dove into a dark corner as yet unilluminated by Pyrrha's flashlight, where—as quickly as possible—he stripped off his outer layers. _Better boxers than Jaune's pajamas, I guess._

It wouldn't have been the first time he'd worn that little around _her_, after all; it was really because of his other two roommates that he had been so reluctant to take advantage of the only other alternative to pajamas that he had—though he was perfectly comfortable with his own body, he doubted very much whether Jaune and/or Pyrrha would be.

That, and there was always the more practical concern of whether he'd be warm enough—though that had gone flying out the window, along with all the other sense in the room, when Nora had insisted on sleeping in the same bed as him.

Crawling back under his covers, and jumping slightly as his foot touched Nora's before finally relaxing, Ren sighed, looking forward to a good night's sleep.

_**9:00 p.m.**_

Ren's dozing was momentarily interrupted when Pyrrha clicked off her flashlight: Nora's arm clutched Ren's torso automatically in a comforting and familiar grip that nonetheless stirred him out of his rest, elevated heartbeat pressed against his back. However, Ren (squeezing Nora's fingers with his own sleepily to console her) quickly managed to drop off to sleep again, looking forward to a new day tomorrow… and hoping very much Pyrrha was on top of things enough to know when Team JNPR was expected to awaken.

**((I hope this wasn't as incoherent as I think it is. Regardless, here's how I think their first night probably went… Ren/Nora, yay!))**


	2. Another Morning with Ren

_**7:00 a.m.**_

When Nora's body told her it was time for her to get up, since it was the morning of the first day of school, she opened her eyes… and immediately disregarded its request. It wasn't light yet, and there was no way she was bothering to disentangle herself from the mess of sheets and limbs that was her bed before the sun had risen.

At least, not without Ren. Ren was her security blanket: he had slept next to her every time he was allowed to, and sometimes when he wasn't, due to her fear of the dark. In fact, it had been that phobia that had made her decide to become a Huntress—she'd much rather hunt down and kill the monsters made of darkness than just run away from them all her life like so many others.

But there was nothing Nora could do about the darkness itself: she needed Ren's help to cope with _that_ from the time the sun set to the time it rose again.

Sighing as softly as possible (knowing if she woke Ren before sunrise he'd literally kick her out of bed), Nora—who lay on her stomach next to Ren, who faced the ceiling—nestled her head comfortably into Ren's neck, tightened her arm around his chest, readjusted her legs entwined with his, and contentedly went back to sleep.

_**7:30 a.m.**_

A loud crash woke Nora again; her eyes flew open, startled. The room was light enough to see now: Jaune had fallen out of bed and sat up sheepishly as Nora smiled at him. Pyrrha, meanwhile, had evidently been up long enough to have changed clothing, and regarded Nora and Ren with something like apprehension.

"Good morning!" exclaimed Nora, beaming at Pyrrha as she stretched, and received a somewhat uncertain—but still genuine—smile in return. _I'm glad I got nice teammates! _Now that it was light and other people were up, Ren had no reason to complain, so Nora could be as noisy as she pleased.

Jaune waved at Nora from across the room halfheartedly, looking for something, and Nora waved back enthusiastically before bouncing off her bed (Ren made a faint noise of incoherent, half-conscious dismay) and helping Jaune search.

"Um, what are you doing?" asked Jaune, as she checked under his bed.

"Helping you look," responded Nora, frowning. "Didn't you lose something?" She straightened up, finding no sneaky lost items under the bed, and looked Jaune in the eye: he seemed unnerved.

"W-well, yeah, but you don't even know what I'm looking _for_… right?"

"That doesn't matter!" declared Nora. "I was just checking around for anything interesting, and I'll tell you everything. Like," she added, crawling over Jaune's bed and checking on the other side, "someone lost a suit over here!" She seized the four pieces of clothing with some difficulty and threw them over her shoulder: Jaune yelped as he tried to catch them with limited success.

"Thanks, I… guess," he muttered, and opened the door, where he gave a small exclamation of surprise as the girl standing behind it—_Ruby? _wondered Nora—squeaked as well.

"What are you doing here?" asked Jaune, sounding more pleased (albeit surprised) than annoyed to see her.

"Oh! Well, um, I was just going to say good morning," stammered Ruby. "That, and breakfast is served!" She bent down to pick up two full plates of waffles overflowing with butter and syrup, brandishing them with a grin: Jaune smiled and stood back, wordlessly inviting Ruby in.

Nora glanced at Pyrrha to discover with some bemusement that she wore a rather disappointed expression, and immediately resolved to cheer her up somehow. _But how? I don't know what she likes yet! _Nora busied herself for a few moments, sitting on Jaune's bed and staring at the ceiling to try and think of something.

"Breakfast is served in the dining hall between seven and eight-thirty," Ruby was explaining when Nora finally tuned back in, having seized on an idea at last—Jaune had evidently asked where she had gotten the waffles as he picked one up gingerly, syrup dripping from golden tips. "I just thought… since you guys helped us out so much yesterday… maybe I should get you guys some food!" She gave a small grin, which Jaune returned, and Nora dashed over to her suitcase for a moment, rummaging through it until she found the precious artifact she would give to Pyrrha.

"Ta-da!" she exclaimed, darting over to the girl with the beautiful, very-dark-pink hair—it was actually probably redder than it was pink, but Nora preferred to think of the world in rosier tones—and holding out a pale pink ribbon Nora had bought when she was younger. "It's a good luck charm," she explained to the girl, who looked up at her, startled (Jaune and Ruby's conversation had stopped as they watched the exchange). "You could wear it in your hair!"

Pyrrha blinked a little, but smiled anyway as she accepted the ribbon. "Thank you," she murmured, rearranging her hair as Jaune and Ruby started talking again. "But… why?"

"You looked down," shrugged Nora smilingly. "Pink makes everything better!" Without further ado, she charged towards the waffles (Jaune and Ruby dove out of the way) and scarfed down a couple before giving them a somewhat syrupy smile and wandering over to where Ren still slept.

"I was wondering where the fourth member of your team was," commented Ruby from across the room, squinting at the lump under the covers. "He's… still asleep?"

"Oh, Ren loves his rest," laughed Nora, sitting down next to him cross-legged on the bed and staring at his closed eyes. "Come on, Ren. It's morning! There are waffles!"

Ren mumbled something to the effect of 'leave me alone', but Nora poked Ren with a sticky finger nonetheless—and was promptly swatted off the bed. Even in a half-asleep state, Ren was still a formidable opponent, not that this stopped Nora in any way. Laughing, Nora got back to her feet and shrugged at a mystified Pyrrha. "I guess he's not gonna budge," she admitted cheerfully, skipping to the door and glancing back at the bed before she left the room (to find Ruby staring at her openmouthed). "Thanks for breakfast, Waffle Girl!" she added, giving a cheery wave, and continued skipping down the hall, ready for a nice long shower.

_**8:00 a.m.**_

Only after Nora had undressed and stepped into the warm, deliciously clean water did it occur to her that she hadn't actually brought a change of clothes for when she was done. Such an obstacle wasn't much of a problem for Nora, though—when every inch of her was scrubbed, she just wrapped a towel around herself, since no one's doors seemed to be open anyway, and wandered back to their room with her nightgown in hand.

"If I'd known they let you take showers in the mor—" began Jaune, seemingly annoyed as he stacked empty waffle plates on the ground, before taking in Nora's appearance. "Uh," he finished, blinking. "I…"

Pyrrha glanced up from her book at his words and gasped audibly, much to Nora's puzzlement.

"What?" asked Nora, tilting her head confusedly. "It's not like I'm totally naked or anything. I have a towel on." She pointed helpfully to the damp piece of fabric wrapped around her, which covered her as much as towels could. "Besides, we're _all _naked under our clothes anyway!"

She grinned at her two conscious teammates. Pyrrha was unimpressed by her comment, but Jaune looked contemplative, as though he was seriously thinking about what it meant.

"L-let us know when you're done changing," sighed Pyrrha, avoiding eye contact as she walked across the room, dragging a protesting Jaune out with her. "And you might want to get your friend up, too!" she added as she shut the door behind them. Nora smiled, clambering onto the bed and positioning herself over Ren so that her still-wet hair would drip onto his face. If that didn't wake him up, nothing would.

But a minute or so passed and many drops fell to no avail.

Bored with her endeavors, Nora picked up her uniform and examined it carefully. _Not enough pink, _she decided, but she had given away one of her few pink accessories to Pyrrha. Of course she didn't regret doing so, but now, how was she going to make her outfit more her style?

A noise distracted her as she was about to put on her top, having twirled around in her skirt to her heart's content; it sounded like something choking. Turning around, shirt in hands, Nora found that Ren was sitting up… and apparently coughing as though he had inhaled something.

Rushing over to him, Nora whacked him on the back.

"Good morning!" she interjected, beaming as Ren's coughs lessened gradually. "I thought you were dead," she added, remembering how even water had not awakened her otherwise catlike friend.

"M-might as well be," gasped Ren hoarsely, trying to clear his throat and looking anywhere but at Nora. _Why won't he look at me?_

"What's wrong?" pressed Nora, hugging him concernedly—Ren yelped, and Nora felt his muscles freeze up. "Rigor mortis!" she exclaimed, feeling along his bare chest and arms worriedly. _You're my only friend and you're really handsome and I don't want you to die!_ "Tetanus! What's that thing where you can't move…" she continued, releasing a shellshocked Ren and staring at the wall as though the dictionary was written there.

"…Nora," groaned Ren, leaning over with his elbows on his knees and rubbing his eyes in what seemed to be defeat (though she noticed he wasn't scowling, but rather almost smiling). "Please… put a shirt on."

Nora glanced down. "Oh. …But Ren," she persisted a moment later, kneeling in front of him (and still carrying her shirt) as he sat on their collective bed, "you're in _your _underwear, too, and I'm not asking you to put pants on over it, because it still covers everything. Just like this." She pointed to her chest pointedly.

Ren seemed momentarily stumped as he stared at the floor, but eventually shook his head agitatedly. "Just do it, Nora." His voice was more amused than short as he bent to pick up his suit, eyeing it with some distaste before pulling on his trousers anyway.

_**8:15 a.m.**_

"Paralysis!" shouted Nora triumphantly, after she pulled on her shoes some time later; the rest of the time they had spent getting dressed had been spent in silence as she tried to think of the word. Ren, putting his shoes on next to her, jumped slightly at her cry: Jaune opened the door a crack, sticking his head through and looking around quizzically before opening the door further to allow the rest of Team JNPR in.

"Do either of you two know when our first class is? I know _what _we have, but not when it starts," sighed Pyrrha, getting right to the point and glancing over each of them with an approving eye as she spoke. Nora thought for a moment before shaking her head apologetically; Ren murmured a negative next to her.

"We could just leave at the same time Team RWBY does," suggested Jaune. "They… well… they seem to have some idea what's going on." _He's so shy for a team leader! _Nora smiled at him to boost his confidence, but he just looked faintly alarmed at her expression and dropped his gaze.

Before Nora had time to feel disappointed, Ren put his arm around her comfortingly. _Thanks, Ren. _She turned her grin on him instead, and was promptly rewarded with a soft look in his pink eyes as they met her blue ones… and one of his trademark almost-smiles.

Pyrrha cleared her throat slightly and Ren retracted his arm; Jaune, meanwhile, had taken a position by the door to listen for when Team RWBY left. When he caught them all looking at him, he explained, "It'd… look bad… if I was staring at the door leading to a room full of girls. Listening is better."

Nodding in agreement, though somewhat distractedly, Pyrrha picked up her book again, studying hard. Ren, meanwhile, stared at the door with a distinctly irritated expression.

"So, what do we do _now_?"

"We wait," explained Pyrrha unhelpfully, from behind the covers of her book.

"We dance!" corrected Nora, looking at Ren enthusiastically. "Or we practice handstands. Or we spar a little, but then I guess the room wouldn't be in great shape after that. Or we could play tic-tac-toe, or card games—did you bring cards? I hope you brought cards. Anyway, we could draw pictures, or play Truth or Dare, or reenact our victory yesterday. Or I could sing to you… or—"

"Nora," interrupted Ren, looking at her mildly. "You could suggest things for half an hour, and it would probably be just as entertaining as actually _doing _any of those." He gave her another half-smile, and Nora beamed, a contented feeling bubbling up inside her as she leaned on Ren.

He was _her_ Ren, and she was realizing it more and more as the days went. Ren with the funny name order. Ren with the pink streak in his hair. Ren who scared the dark away.

"Challenge accepted."

**((And of course we know Team RWBY didn't actually know what they were doing either, so they were almost late… Bet you wish you hadn't told her to do that, Ren.**

**I am in fact going to continue this one! I can't promise any regular update schedule, though. It'll probably have a lot to do with the new episodes and how much freedom they allow for me to play around with Team JNPR's antics.))**


	3. Another Class with a Valkyrie

_**8:30 a.m.**_

Ren shifted his shoulder uncomfortably, doing his level best not to dislodge the ginger head resting upon it. Nora might be an up-and-at-'em kind of person every morning, and she might be hyper to a fault the remainder of the time she was awake… but, _if_ she decided to take a nap—which was a last resort for when she was unutterably bored—Ren had learned the hard way never to wake her before she was ready. _Let sleeping redheads lie._

Peter Port was not a very interesting professor, reflected Ren, as he stared impassively down at the gray-haired, long-winded teacher far below where he and Nora sat. He had been lecturing almost nonstop (pausing only to crack the occasional ill-received joke) for roughly an hour, if Ren's calculations were at all right. What was more, Port had been explaining concepts Ren already knew, telling stories no one cared about, and generally making a fool of himself and his subject.

Far more interesting was the peacefully slumbering Nora as she let out a peaceful, contented sigh, snuggling half-consciously up to Ren's arm. He almost smiled, an indescribable thought dancing on the tip of his mind, but then Port snapped himself out of his anecdote and challenged the class to demonstrate the true characteristics of a Hunter, and it faded away again.

_**11:45 a.m.**_

"Time! Switch. Last set!"

Ren groaned internally as he gently placed the barbell back into its rack before sitting up, feeling vaguely lightheaded from having been lifting it for about five minutes straight. If he reported this to the government, it might be considered slave labor—but then, he reflected, accidentally catching Glynda Goodwitch's stern green eyes before he glanced quickly away again, it was doubtful anyone would dare complain.

Across the room, Cardin Winchester set down the weights as though it had been nothing, and envy flashed briefly across Ren's mind before he froze it in its poisonous tracks. There was no sense in comparing himself to others, especially when those others happened to tower over almost everyone else and plainly had a lot of free time to be lifting weights. _And probably a few more meals than I've had._

Nora deftly readjusted the weights to be ever so slightly lighter, enthusiastically clambered onto the bench, and—once Glynda had given the signal—began lifting. Ren smiled slightly, proud of his only friend's prowess at physical activity—she _had _to be strong in order to heft Magnhild, and no one knew it better than Ren. Anytime Nora was considered weak, it _had_ to be only because of her bubbly personality (no one could look at her muscles for more than a couple seconds and think otherwise); because she was so optimistic, they automatically assumed she was stupid. Nora might be painfully oblivious sometimes, and she might be able to talk your ear off for hours on end (fortunately excluding the times she was busy lifting weights), but she was anything but dimwitted.

The next five minutes or so passed much more quickly than when Ren had been on the bench; Nora, after replacing the barbell, sat up as though still fully energized as Glynda called time (and added that there would be a break for showers, much to Ren's relief). But before Ren could say anything, though what he might have said would remain hidden even to him, Nora had wandered over to Cardin Winchester's group; something very like jealousy licked at Ren's heart as he watched her, dumbfounded. _She never just… leaves me like that._

"You're really strong!" exclaimed Nora, looking up at the tall, muscular boy, who looked down at her, plainly surprised that she dared approach him. "Even more than me," she added somewhat unhelpfully. "How did you get to _be_ that strong? It's only the first day of class."

Cardin glanced down at her with a condescending sort of grin, and Ren instinctively moved closer to the two of them—though careful to keep out of Cardin's sight—in case he needed to protect Nora. "You think I've never trained a day in my life before today? Just because _you _have doesn't mean that's true for all of us." His teammates gave wolfish grins, and Ren glowered internally, though still keeping his private emotions hidden from the outside world. The last thing he needed was to make enemies on the first day of class (though that principle would go straight out the window if they threatened Nora).

"I don't think you were watching me very carefully," responded Nora cheerfully. "I lifted almost as much as you did. Just a lighter weight, since you were practically lifting _my _weight with no problem." Rocking back and forth on her heels, as she always did when she was nervous, Nora's smile nonetheless didn't waver. _How does she even do that?_

Cardin laughed unpleasantly. "I'd have to add a few more in order for that to be true," he added, patting the weights. "You don't seem too light yourself. All those pancakes must have gone straight to your belly."

For a shaky moment, Ren thought Nora's seemingly unbreakable confidence had shattered—as did Team CRDL, as they snickered at Nora's suddenly crestfallen expression—but she just shrugged after noting their reactions. "I'm sorry for you," she said, a sad little smile reemerging (to Cardin's clear astonishment). "At least part of my weight, whatever it is, is in my head."

Tilting her head as Cardin looked a little lost for words, Nora's smile became noticeably brighter and Ren breathed a sigh of relief (perhaps mixed in with some admiration). _Nora weighs one hundred thirty-seven pounds and I wouldn't want her any other way, _growled Ren mentally to Cardin. Unfortunately, as though his thoughts had attracted the bully's attention, Cardin's eyes snapped to Ren.

"I see your boyfriend is skulking around as usual," he observed loudly. "Doesn't he know it's not polite to eavesdrop on private conversations?" he added pointedly; Ren ignored his obvious passive-aggressiveness and stepped forward somewhat more cautiously than usual.

"What's my business is Ren's," shrugged Nora, turning to greet Ren with a wide smile and open arms. Ren gently but futilely gestured for her to put her arms down, not wanting to re-circulate the rumor that they were dating (as had happened many a time before).

"Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone, then," Cardin chortled, turning in an excessively conceited way; his three teammates followed him immediately. Half-expecting Cardin to throw back a snarky comment or two, Ren's eyes followed them all the way out the door before he turned to Nora, who placed her hand on his shoulder before he could say anything.

"I know," she said sadly, no hint of a smile on her face. "I did it again, didn't I? I acted… well, like I always do, in front of a stranger. I'm sorry. It's just so hard for me to—"

"Nora," interrupted Ren. "Don't worry about it." He might have added some vocalization of his admiration for how she stood up to Cardin before he botched everything, but Glynda Goodwitch was approaching with a frown on her face, so he decided to stop there.

"Mr. Lie, Miss Valkyrie, what do you think you're doing? Everyone's left. Go take your showers and meet back here before you're officially dismissed." Without even waiting for an answer, she stalked out the door, and Ren and Nora exchanged a smile before following her.

_**12:00 p.m.**_

"Ruby? What… are you doing here?"

Jaune peered at the girl who had wedged her way between Jaune and Pyrrha (much to the latter's annoyance, Ren noted) somewhat suddenly. She glanced up as though surprised by the question before sighing and staring, downcast, at her uneaten lunch.

"Didn't you see how Weiss was acting in first period? She didn't even _talk _to me all second. And now they're all sitting over there"—Ruby pointed to the rest of her team, sitting further down the same table—"and she's _still _not in a good mood! I've tried everything, but she won't accept my apologies…"

Jaune sighed heavily. "I'm sorry," he began sympathetically, giving Ruby a somewhat shy smile. "You can stay with us until she—" He stopped dead as Yang Xiao Long, the girl with the scary attitude and occasionally flaming hair (which now lay thick but dormant against her head), marched towards them and—without any kind of ceremony or explanation—seized her sister by the cape and dragged her down the table to where Team RWBY sat.

Though he looked sorry as Ruby's eyes pled to help her, Jaune was also plainly intimidated enough by the blonde-haired, violet-eyed beauty that he would rather risk Ruby's good opinion of him than his life and limbs.

Ren glanced down at Nora, startled, to see that she was eyeing his previously nonexistent dessert with delight (Ren had cleared his plate, or so he thought, and he was too full to have gone back for seconds)._ Who sneaked _this_ onto my plate? …Nora. Definitely Nora. Why was that a question to begin with?_

"Can I—"

Ren shoved his tray at Nora before she even finished her sentence, looking away as she happily seized it. "I knew I could," she announced, mouth full of ice cream; Ren was doubly pleased because he wasn't watching her. Ever since he was very little, it had made him extremely uncomfortable to watch other people eating, but it was especially bad with Nora: it felt… wrong, somehow.

Glancing momentarily at Pyrrha, Ren was surprised to see her clear her throat and nod in the direction of Nora: Ren turned his head to see Nora, smiling happily, brandishing a spoonful of ice cream at him.

"You _know _I'm full," muttered Ren. "Go on, have your last bite. I don't want it." Nora's only response was to move the spoon further towards him; Ren leaned away automatically. "Take it!" added Ren, more forcefully. "Don't save any for me."

He tried gently pushing the spoon away, but it returned insistently… and also much closer to his mouth. Nora's smile teasingly danced in his vision as he swallowed. _Chocolate ice cream, _he thought, eyeing the spoonful. _Chocolate. How did she know my weakness? I've kept it so well hidden. But… I really shouldn't eat any more, regardless._

Taking a deep breath, Ren opened his mouth to give Nora his final warning that she should eat it or he would knock it off the spoon, but immediately found it filled with ice cream (and his ears with Team JNPR's giggles). Glowering at no one in particular, mainly to suppress his own urge to laugh, Ren swallowed his bite of dessert and did his best to look sour.

But, once the laughter had died down somewhat and Nora was about to change the subject, Ren suddenly covered her chocolate-smeared mouth with a napkin, and she was quite speechless as he smiled.

_**2:15 p.m.**_

"Now you're king of the castle," giggled Nora; Ren started, having been in that delightful, ethereal place between wakefulness and sleep, and immediately narrowed his eyes at his best friend before gauging from her ecstatic expression and the direction her eyes looked that there was something on his head.

Waving his hand through the air above his hair (Nora gasped), he immediately knocked off a yellow paper crown, differently colored gemstones drawn onto every point with crayons, and his lotus emblem sketched onto what Ren supposed was the front in a clumsy way that, if anyone but Nora had drawn it, might have offended him deeply.

"Aw, you're not the king anymore," whined Nora, bending down disappointedly to pick up the paper crown. "Now who am I gonna marry to be queen?" She gave him a somewhat uncertain smile, cheeks as rosy as ever but no rosier. _How can she say that without turning completely red?_

Suppressing a blush of his own with difficulty, Ren heaved a sigh. "I don't know, but you're going to have to find someone else." _I guess, _he added to himself halfheartedly. However implausible it seemed for Nora to be with _him_, whenever Ren thought about the future and of the man who might take his best friend away from him someday to be his wife, it stirred his feelings up into an emotion similar to fury. _But I've got other things to think about._

Tuning back in to whatever Nora was rambling about, Ren immediately wished he hadn't, as the first sentence he registered was: "You can be maid of honor when I marry a king!"

"Wh-what?" spluttered Ren, accidentally inhaling his own saliva at the thought. _Me? _Maid_ of honor?! _"You—you _have _to be kidding!" he added, coughing.

Looking delightfully shocked at Ren's reaction (something he cursed himself for; this happened whenever he allowed himself to register more than a mild variation on the most basic emotions), Nora grinned at him. "Oh, come on. Since I'll be rich by then, I could buy you a little lotus tutu or—"

"I am _not _going to be your maid of honor, Nora," snapped Ren, forgetting that he and Nora were in a crowded classroom (work had finished early), and flinched a moment later as the students immediately around them quieted and then burst into laughter. Unable to keep his color from rising any longer, Ren sank lower in his desk, refusing to look at Nora even when she got up out of her desk.

"Come on, I'm not allowed to have a best man—that's the groom's job!" Ren jumped as Nora's voice emanated from below him; peering down (and moving his legs hastily away from her for reasons he preferred not to think about), he saw her sitting cross-legged under his desk as though she did this every day. "So, you're going to have to deal with being maid of honor. Unless you think Pyrrha would be a better choice?" she added thoughtfully, rubbing her chin.

"Yeah," agreed Ren gratefully, closing his eyes and fidgeting with his crown (and, strangely enough, finding himself wanting to put it back on his head). "Pyrrha might not complain so much. I'd rather _die_ than be stuffed into a tutu."

"But I don't want you to die!" exclaimed Nora, scooting forward and cuddling his leg affectionately: Ren stiffened, trying to gauge which way his feelings swung, and their complex compass pointed directly between Irritation and Contentment. _But isn't that always how it is with Nora?_

_**7:00 p.m.**_

"_Laundry_!"

Ren rolled his eyes as Nora observed the pile of neatly folded clothes sitting on Pyrrha's bed and, before he could grasp her wrist to hold her back, hurtled into the room and onto her bed, effectively strewing clothes and bedclothes alike throughout the room (and evidently forgetting how she had been talking about how tired she was all the way from the dining hall to their room).

"Uh," said Pyrrha uncertainly, as Jaune observed, "Okay."

Ren heaved a sigh as Nora disappeared completely in the pile of perhaps-a-little-less-clean-than-it-was-a-minute-a go laundry. "She's always like this," he explained, somewhat apologetically. "She loves anything warm—"

"It's like a bubble bath!" laughed Nora happily, pausing a moment with Pyrrha's miniskirt wrapped around her head and a pair of unfamiliar boxers on her arm (Ren glanced sideways at Jaune to see him looking stricken) before adding, "Except with more static electricity and fewer bubbles," before submerging herself in clothing again.

"All right, Nora, could you—I mean," began Pyrrha, taking a couple step forward. "I need to—we should—" _The only time I've ever seen Pyrrha lost for words is when Nora is… well, being Nora, _reflected Ren, before marching towards the wiggling lump of laundry that was Nora.

Nora popped out of the pile of laundry, this time wearing Ren's favorite shirt. "Ta-da!" she announced, as though she had just done the impossible, and Ren took a moment to briefly take in Nora's appearance (or, perhaps more accurately, note that green was _not_ her color) before scooping her up without further ado and carrying her to their combined beds, her giggling filling his ears all the while.

"Thanks, Ren," sighed Jaune, sounding extremely relieved that his boxers were safe from cute girls everywhere, and he and Pyrrha immediately started picking at the formerly neat pile of clothing to find their various belongings.

Ren nodded briefly in his direction before stumbling as Nora pinched his side, crashing onto the mattress beside her and trying in vain to defend himself as Nora tickled him mercilessly, kneeling above him. It was all Ren could do not to let any sounds escape: the last thing he wanted was for everyone to know how ticklish he was, this being the reason he had been so careful to keep his knees out of reach earlier that day.

"Please!" he begged, unable to keep down a hoarse and rarely-used laugh any longer (curled up into a ball at this point to avoid having any of his midriff exposed, but thus unable to defend himself). "You win!"

Nora immediately pulled back her hands, a triumphant grin on her face; Ren noticed, as he sat up exhaustedly, that Pyrrha and Jaune had paused in their frantic re-folding to regard the two of them with mingled astonishment and amusement. "Did you hear that? I win!" she crowed, bowling Ren over again like an overexcited puppy and then standing up to rest her foot on his chest (Ren was made painfully aware of the fact that she was wearing a skirt, and shut his eyes tightly rather than look up).

"You owe me," muttered Ren, and trailed a hand lazily from her thigh to her calf, relishing her sudden squeak and weakening of the knees before she sat down suddenly next to him.

"Not anymore," countered Nora, and they looked at each other with such clear happiness that Ren wondered what, exactly, was preventing him from seizing the opportunity of kissing her. It was just like in the stories, wasn't it? When you liked each other that much—when you thought of her every waking hour and minute—when you slept in the same bed every night, wasn't that what love was? Wasn't he supposed to _do _something about it, now that their faces were so close together?

_But I'm no expert, _laughed Ren inwardly, mainly to distract himself from getting immersed yet again in the ocean of his somewhat confused feelings for Nora, and Ren thought wryly—as she flopped onto her back with a happy sigh, breaking the moment—that whatever would happen would be on Nora's terms: in the meantime, Jaune and Pyrrha could stare and speculate all they liked.

**((Bit of a longer chapter, now that it's been a couple weeks. :3 I hope I'm not making this too shippy too fast…))**


	4. Another Field Trip with a Lie

_**8:30 a.m.**_

Nora made a faint noise of protest resembling something between a squeak and a grunt as she was poked in the side; twitching away from the unwelcome disturbance, she tried with limited success to bury her head in her pillow. However, the finger was persistent, and Nora lay as still as possible (not very) for another several attempts to rouse her before grabbing the hand suddenly and pulling its owner down on top of her.

At the sound of a small yelp similar to a tiny beowolf, Nora's eyes fluttered open only to see Ren. They widened immediately as she took in the appearance of her longtime best friend, staring down at her with ill-disguised discomfort, and Nora wondered what the matter was for a moment before observing that his body was arched only a few inches above her, prevented from crashing into her only through the noble service of his hands and knees.

That wasn't really that unnerving to her, though. The central issue was that Ren was actually awake and dressed before her. That had _never _happened! _This has to be a dream, _decided Nora, smiling at the thought that she was safely still in bed and could sleep for another couple hours before finally waking up.

Nora was about to roll over and wait for the dream to shift into something else when it occurred to her that Jaune and Pyrrha were packing their bags for the big field trip in the background. Her dreams were rarely prophetic, and a frown flickered across her face momentarily as it occurred to her that perhaps this wasn't all in her head after all.

_Only one way to find out! _thought Nora, a smile springing back onto her face as she thought of the perfect test. "Good morning, Ren!" she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck for a final test as to whether or not this was indeed a fantasy, and blank terror made itself evident in his gaze for a fraction of a second: he froze before peeling away her arms hastily and sitting on the side of the bed, cheeks reddening slightly, as he muttered a vague response. _Nope. Not a dream. _She suppressed a twinge of somewhat unexpected disappointment, smile faltering a little.

"Morning, Nora," smiled Pyrrha, looking over at her from across the room as she slung her rucksack over her shoulder. "We were wondering when you'd be up!" she added, frowning slightly. "You've never slept in before."

Nora vaguely remembered having stayed up until midnight, waiting for Jaune to return from wherever he was—and braving the darkness all by herself as Ren slumbered, she might add—before finally giving up when he didn't return, and crawling into bed alongside Ren. "I don't know," she shrugged cheerfully, knowing better than to mention anything to do with Jaune in front of Pyrrha (especially as their fearless leader now stood awkwardly next to the door, holding his pack and looking as unhappy as ever).

"Well, we'll meet you in front of the school in half an hour, at any rate," responded Pyrrha. "Make sure you're ready, all right?" After Ren nodded to signify both his and Nora's understanding, Pyrrha swept out the door without looking once at Jaune, who opened his mouth as if to say something before closing it again, looking crestfallen before he trudged after her, closing the door behind him.

"Why does Peach need _us_ to collect sap?" mused Ren, falling back onto the bed as Nora scampered out of bed, wishing she could just lie in her special, comfy pool of warmth for a couple more minutes—but forgetting all about it a moment later as she reflected on the field trip to come. _We're going to have so much fun!_

"Probably because she needs some," answered Nora gleefully, locating her haphazardly arranged trunk of clothes a moment later and throwing together her favorite outfit. _Skirt, blouse—why do they call it a blouse, anyway?—gloves, and shoes!_

"That's not what I—" began Ren, but cut himself off as Nora hopped enthusiastically into her outfit.

Twirling once, Nora approached the bed again. "How do I look?" she asked Ren, who was staring at the ceiling expressionlessly, and he started before looking her up and down once.

"Like you always do," responded Ren, stretching. "Happy. You ready?"

"I haven't even eaten breakfast!" protested Nora, staring at her unconcerned best friend.

"Pyrrha packed a few snacks for us," explained Ren, taking her by the hand and guiding her gently towards the door as she continued to mourn the loss of her pancakes. "I'm sure she'll let you have an apple or something when we get there."

"But," began Nora, dragging her feet halfheartedly. Forever Fall wouldn't be nearly so fun if she was going there on an empty stomach. But by the time they arrived at the front of the school, there was only one thought in her mind, and her stomach's satisfaction didn't matter quite so much anymore: _We're going on a field trip!_

_**9:30 a.m.**_

Nora had rarely had so much fun as the half hour spent on an airship, traveling to Forever Fall. Even Ren seemed in awe of the beautiful scenery as they neared their destination.

"Jaune's not doing so well," whispered Nora to Ren, pointing at their unfortunate leader, who was hunched over a garbage can. "What's wrong with him?"

"Motion sickness," responded Ren promptly, and fell silent again, regarding the landscape stretching out beneath them as they began their descent into a clearing in the red forest. _Motion sickness. Wouldn't he get sick whenever he moved, then? Why don't they just call it airship sickness?_

As the students flooded out into the forest, shining bright red in its eternal autumn glory, Nora grinned, realizing the potential for fun in this field trip at long last. Piles of leaves! Jars of sweet sap! Plenty of space for sparring practice! Nora spun around in joy, relishing the whispery sound of leaves in the wind.

Bouncing off Cardin Winchester's breastplate, which put a sudden end to her euphoria, Nora sat down abruptly. Quick footsteps behind her caught her attention as she shook her head, slightly dazed, and Ren knelt next to her to ensure that she was all right before helping her up.

Cardin laughed, and Nora smiled tentatively (Ren scowled) before the leader of Team CRDL bent down and said quietly, "Listen, weirdo. I'm gonna say this once, since I don't know how much you understand. Don't. Touch. Me. Ever. Again. I don't want your clumsiness to rub off on me."

Nora raised her eyebrows as his teammates laughed, though some seemed a little more unenthusiastic than others. "I hope it does," she replied seriously, putting her hands on her hips. "Then maybe Jaune might stand a fair chance." She grinned at him. "In fact, if you were fighting a Grimm, I'd probably root for the Grimm."

Team CRDL stopped laughing abruptly as their leader got an ugly look on his face; Ren looked faintly proud while Nora beamed at them all, curtsied, and backed up for Professor Goodwitch, who made her way through the crowd with strict deliberation to explain their assignment.

_One day, he'll get his legs broken._

_**10:00 a.m.**_

Having replenished her stomach with roughly half of Pyrrha's snack bag (taking Jaune's share as well as hers since he wasn't anywhere to be found anyway, and she didn't want his sandwich to go to waste), Nora stopped dead in the middle of a clearing, staring at the biggest ursa she had ever seen.

It seemed as surprised as she was, and Nora was about to call for Ren or take out Magnhild or perhaps just run away when an idea struck her, and she smiled mischievously. _This is gonna be great!_

Nora took one of the seventeen jars of sap she had collected (having planned on keeping sixteen of them for midnight snacks or syrup for her pancakes), took off the lid, prayed her scheme would work, approached as close to the ursa as she dared, and poured out the syrup in a thick, delicious trail, backing up as she went.

Whistling sharply to catch the ursa's attention after continuing the trail for another few jars, Nora was pleased to hear heavy snuffles from the clearing as it attempted to lick the sap off the leaves, and smiled to herself as she quickly continued pouring out the remainder of her precious sixteen jars, leading directly to the place where Team CRDL had set up camp before racing back to where Ren was waiting, ignorant of her master plan.

_This better be a show worth sacrificing my syrup for._

_**10:05 a.m.**_

Nora and Ren sprinted after the three fleeing members of Team CRDL, worry pounding in Nora's head as she realized Jaune had been with them when the ursa had reached the end of the trail. _How could I have done that?! I owe Jaune a bear hug! …Maybe not a _bear _hug. He'll have had enough of bears. Just a hug should be good_

"Wait up!" she panted, but the bullies refused to slow down, and Nora threw one of her jars underfoot so that the slowest one tripped and fell. "Tell me what happened!" she demanded, helping him up (he took her hand gingerly, as though afraid she would drop him). "Jaune was there, wasn't he? Pyrrha said Jaune might be there!"

The boy smirked a little—_he has a pretty name, _thought Nora wistfully, _Sky Lark—_brushing himself off and attempting to yank his arm from her grip of steel. "Y-yeah, he was there," he responded, continuing to jog after his comrades, neither of whom had slowed down in light of his fall. "So?"

"So he's my teammate!" insisted Nora furiously, staring at Sky with shock. "I'm worried about him, of course."

Sky laughed a little, sounding somewhat nervous; the other two members of Team CRDL had already reached Professor Goodwitch and were visibly attempting to explain what had happened (Ren, after carefully ensuring that the Sky-and-Nora situation would not escalate into fisticuffs, darted ahead to clarify a few points). "Do you care for all your teammates like that, or just him?"

"All of them," answered Nora stubbornly as they slowed to a walk. "He just happens to be the leader. Why? Doesn't your team care about all its members?"

"Not really."

Nora waited for elaboration, but upon receiving none, poked him gently in the side; he flinched. "Hey. You okay?" she asked, frowning. "You're not saying much about it."

"There's nothing much to say," admitted Sky. "Cardin's the leader. We have to go along with what he says, or else…" He trailed off, looking faintly sheepish, and Nora smiled reassuringly as Professor Goodwitch dashed past them, followed quickly by Ren (who nodded once to Nora in a wordless request to keep an eye on Team CRDL; Nora saluted in return).

"So, what's the deal with you and that guy, anyway?" asked Sky awkwardly as they made their way into the clearing wherein his teammates caught their breath. "You kind of seem like you have… a thing."

"A thing," repeated Nora, tilting her head.

"Yeah," responded Sky, rubbing the back of his head. "A thing. Like… boyfriend-girlfriend sort of thing. Except you… saluted him… so a little more like boss-employee?"

"Come on, Sky," laughed the smallest one—_Russel, _Nora dimly remembered, as she stopped thinking of how to respond, relieved at the distraction. "First your theory about Ozpin and Goodwitch, and now this? What, do you just keep track of everyone's relationships all the time?"

Nora, by now fully tuned in to the situation around her rather than the nuts and bolts of her relationship with Ren, turned on Russel, who looked unnerved. "You shouldn't talk to him like that," she advised warningly. "It's not good for your team. Don't you guys ever do _anything_ fun?" she added, speaking to all three members of Team CRDL.

"Fun?" asked Sky, as though unsure of what she meant.

Nora rolled her eyes, taking Sky by the shoulders. "Yes, fun!" she exclaimed. "Like singing or dancing or drawing or writing or playing cards or even sparring. Fun!"

"Well, Cardin—" began Russel after an alarmingly long silence, during which the four boys were lost in thought, but Nora cut him off.

"I don't want to hear about Cardin Winchester," she interrupted. "I want to hear about all of _you_. Why are you letting him boss you around like this? It's not like he's the best fighter in the school," she added, frowning around at the boys.

There was another pause, this time broken by the other boy, Dove. "I agreed with him at first," he said quietly, and Nora walked towards him to hear. "He said we shouldn't let other teams get the better of us, and that we should be the best and the strongest at Beacon."

"Yeah," chimed in Russel, looking relieved that someone else had said it. "He said he'd lead us to victory… as long as we followed along with whatever he did. He's really strong," He added defensively, but hesitated before continuing, "I hope he's okay."

"You guys seriously just left your team leader to fight the biggest ursa any of us have ever seen, all alone?" exclaimed Nora, glancing around the team, all of whose faces remained almost entirely impassive (though with a little discomfort mixed in).

"Pretty much," admitted Sky, hanging his head as he sat under the same tree as his teammates defeatedly.

Nora shook her head, standing before them with her hands on her hips. "This is worse than I thought," she muttered. "Listen. You're the saddest bunch of cowards I've ever seen! You just hide behind your leader and pretend it's a demonocracy—"

"Democracy," corrected Dove, as he and his teammates chuckled.

"Democracy," amended Nora. "Anyway, you guys have _got_ to learn to stand up for yourselves instead of letting Cardin boss you around like this!" She paced around the tree for a moment before stopping in front of Russel, who looked unnerved as she bent over to meet his eyes. "You!" she exclaimed, pointing at him as she straightened up. "Tie my shoes."

Russel frowned, looking up at her confusedly. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," replied Nora, raising her eyebrows and holding up a clenched fist to emphasize her point. Russel yelped and, fingers trembling, immediately set to work retying her undone shoelace: Nora scowled and held his neck against the tree with her foot. Sky and Dove, meanwhile, merely observed the situation with visible shock.

"No!" yelled Nora, releasing a terrified Russel. "You don't get it! If someone orders you to do something you don't want to do, you tell them to do it themselves, and you back up your words with weapons." She patted her fist before uncurling it.

"B-but I was fine with ty—" stammered Russel, looking alarmed.

"And you!" Nora whirled around to Dove and Sky, who backed against the tree. "If one of your teammates is in trouble, don't just sit there and watch them. Help him out!" She grinned at them encouragingly; Sky seemed like he wanted to say something, but Dove rolled his eyes, cutting him off.

"We don't need you to tell—" he muttered, not meeting Nora's eyes.

"Wrong again!" she interrupted. "If you don't know how to act like a team, then someone needs to teach you. And I'm just the girl for the job!" She pointed to herself with her thumb, beaming at the three boys before her: Sky reddened, Russel half-smiled in return, and even Dove's expression softened.

Sitting down in front of them, Nora continued grinning, ready to explain the fundamentals of teamwork to the bemused boys. Maybe, if she was very lucky, they'd take what she said into consideration, and the evil bullies of Team CRDL would be no more. _All because of me, taking the time to talk to them!_

_**11:30 p.m.**_

"_There_ you are!"

Nora started as Ren spoke, then looked down at him (unable to suppress a smile at the tone of immeasurable relief in his voice) and held a finger to her lips. If he led Team CRDL to her hiding place, she'd never forgive him. And by never, she meant until tonight, when she needed him to like her enough to let her sleep next to him.

"You! Ren!" called Dove's voice. "Help us look for the Valkyrie girl."

"What do you want with Nora?" asked Ren warily, and Nora (peering through a gap in the branches) saw Dove make his way into the clearing, followed by Sky.

"Yeah, Nora—that's her name. Any idea where she went?"

"What do you want with her?" repeated Ren, and Nora smiled a little, seeing from this proximity that he was itching to fight. That was truly a rarity: more often than not, Ren preferred avoiding needless drama, but apparently Team CRDL was a great enough offense to him that he didn't mind dirtying his hands in that regard.

"We're playing a game," explained Sky tensely when Dove stepped aside to get him to explain matters. "Hide-and-seek. How's Cardin doing?" he added, rocking back on his heels, and Nora giggled silently as Dove elbowed him in the chest, somewhat more gently than usual.

"Fine, I assume," shrugged Ren, stepping out from under Nora's tree. "He and Jaune were both sent back to Beacon early to recover from the ursa attack. He wasn't injured, just shaken" He looked as if he might say something else, probably something involving why exactly they were playing hide-and-seek with Nora, but he remained silent.

"Well," began Dove, after a pause. "If you're not going to help us look for her, then… we'll be seeing you." He turned and walked in the other direction, pulling Sky with him (the latter shouted a hasty thank-you to Ren for the information).

After they disappeared, Ren glanced up at Nora again. "_What _was that about?" he asked, almost in an unprecedentedly demanding tone. "What did they ever do to deserve your company?" he added, sounding almost hurt, and Nora sighed.

"I'll explain when they call olly-olly-oxen-free," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms, and settled back against a sturdy branch only to come face-to-face with Russel, leaning over her on the branch above her with a mischievous smile on his face. _Whoa! How long has he been there?_

"Gotcha," he grinned, and Nora smiled at him before dropping unceremoniously out of the tree alongside her former enemy (Ren stared at the two of them blankly). _That was fun!_

"Good game!" exclaimed Nora, whacking Russel enthusiastically on the back; he staggered. "I have to go with Ren now, though. Go find the others and tell them nice try from me. Your homework is to practice having fun and report back to me after school on what you've done for fun after every weekend. Oh, and if your leader complains, tell him I said you should and he can take it up with me."

Russel nodded once, smiling somewhat awkwardly, and darted off into the forest to find his other teammates, and Nora sauntered happily over to Ren, who stood with his arms crossed and a skeptical expression on his face.

"_What_ are you doing, Nora?" he sighed eventually.

"They're human," she insisted, wide-eyed. "I didn't think so at first, but it turns out Cardin was just using them like he uses everyone else!" She danced around Ren briefly. "So I taught them what _real _fun and teamwork was like. I don't know if it'll work," she admitted, momentarily crestfallen at the idea, "but they'll have a day to remember, anyway."

At first, Nora thought Ren was angry; he engaged himself with his own thoughts, tossing up a wall between him and the outside world. However, the wall was broken down gradually as she realized that a smile was beginning to shine through, and Nora beamed at him, wondering what he would say about her efforts.

"Nice work, Nora," he said quietly, resting a hand tentatively on her shoulder in pride. "Rehabilitation. I thought it'd come to blows between our teams for sure." He ruffled her hair gently before taking her hand; Nora gave his fingers (which were a little shaky for some reason) a cheerful squeeze.

And, as they wandered back to the path to rejoin what remained of Team JNPR, silently admiring the scenery around them, she thought she heard him say something about love.

_But that's probably just wishful thinking, _she thought, a little disappointed at the thought, as she remembered the unfortunate effectiveness of that morning's dream-test.

_**4:00 p.m.**_

"Jaune!"

Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren burst into their room, staring at Jaune. They had left Forever Fall at about noon, and they'd had to go to their classes before they had the chance to make absolutely sure he was fine. Granted, the classes were shortened, but they were still mandatory.

"Hey, guys," said Jaune, unable to look any of them in the eye as he sat on his bed (textbooks and paper spread out in front of him). "I'm sorry I haven't been around for you much these last few weeks…" he began, but Pyrrha walked up to him a moment later, looking down at him intimidatingly.

"I—I said I was sorry!" squeaked Jaune, but Pyrrha leaned down; Nora thought she was going to kiss him, but she only held him close to her for a moment in an unusually tender—and awkward—embrace. Glancing knowingly at Ren, and receiving an eyeroll in response, Nora observed the moment with a sense of satisfaction. _They're so cute! It's too bad Jaune likes Ruby. Actually, Ruby's nice too, so never mind._

"I know," murmured Pyrrha softly, releasing him again after a moment had passed (Jaune's face registered something like shock). "Welcome back, Jaune."

Jaune smiled around at the rest of his team. "It's good to be back. And, you know, I don't think Team CRDL will be bugging any of us for awhile!" He flexed and patted his biceps proudly: Pyrrha heaved a sigh as Ren hid his face in his hand.

"Cardin," corrected Nora, before bouncing onto the bed beside Jaune and hugging him exuberantly as well. "The other guys aren't so bad when you get to know them. But still, you sure showed that ursa what's what!" exclaimed Nora. "How was it, killing your first Grimm?"

"Um… terrifying?" responded Jaune, looking somewhat unnerved at Nora's grin. "Almost as terrifying as you are right now," he mumbled by way of clarification, and Nora let out a roar—causing Jaune to cower—before the rest of her team laughed at her imitation.

_Team JNPR is back together!_

_**7:00 p.m.**_

"Ren, I'm hungry," announced Nora, scurrying over to sit next to Ren, who was reading a book as he sat on their bed.

"It's not my fault you didn't eat all your dinner," he retorted, though with a note of affection in his voice as he scolded her. "Next time, eat all your vegetables, and don't just sneak them onto _my_ plate."

"You're so weird," complained Nora. "What human likes vegetables, besides you?" she added, moving Ren's back forward and scooting behind him so she could act as a cushion (wrapping her legs around his middle as she did so). Ren, unperturbed, turned the page and continued reading.

"What are you reading, anyway?" continued Nora, resting her chin on his shoulder; he glanced at her briefly out the corner of his eye, cheeks perhaps a little closer to his eye color than usual, before sighing and closing the book.

"It's a book about a man with two souls," he began, then shook his head as though bothered by a fly. "Blake lent it to me. She could tell you more about it than I could—I don't really get it yet."

"Oh," remarked Nora, and embraced him, leaning her head against his back as he opened up the book again. She could have fallen asleep, listening to Ren's slightly elevated heartbeat and breathing and page-turning, sandwiched comfortably between him and the headboard—if Pyrrha hadn't cleared her throat.

"Nora, do you know anything about this?"

Nora opened one eye lazily to see that she was standing next to them, holding up a large box and a portable griddle. "There was just a tap on the door, and Russel Thrush gave me these and ran away! He also gave me a note," she continued, holding up a small, folded piece of paper. "It's for you, apparently."

Sitting up and releasing Ren from her grip, Nora examined the note. "Sorry, and thanks," she muttered, reading it aloud as she rose from the bed. "Wow, they're actually pretty nice!" she exclaimed. "Well, it actually kind of depends on what's in the box," she admitted. "So, what's in it?"

Pyrrha pried open the lid of the box and displayed all the necessary ingredients for pancakes with a deadpan expression, which quickly shifted to amusement at Nora's unbridled joy: Nora hugged Ren around the neck quickly, startling him out of his reading. "They're even more than nice!" she gushed. "They remembered I like pancakes!"

"Who wouldn't?" muttered Ren under his breath, and Nora hugged him from behind once more, recognizing the undercurrent of jealousy in his voice. _Ren, how dare you think I'd ever abandon you for those guys!_

"Oh, cheer up," she said gaily. "Pancakes will make you feel better!"

"I think you mean _you_," responded Ren dryly. "But I'll make them, just this once," he sighed, when Nora pouted. "I don't suppose you have any syrup left, though."

Nora grinned, holding up one more jar, which Sky had so generously given her upon hearing that she 'hadn't gotten around to getting one yet' (she figured that no matter how little any members of Team CRDL liked Cardin Winchester, they would not take kindly to the idea that she had led the ursa right to him).

"I'm genuinely surprised," remarked Ren, setting up the griddle in the corner and checking out the boxed ingredients. "Where did they even get this stuff, anyway?" he continued in a mumble.

"I think I'll go check on Jaune," announced Pyrrha after a short silence; Nora was focused on stealthily sneaking her way over to the unsuspecting syrup, which she snatched, opened, and began drinking without further ado. She glanced up from her sweet feast to see Pyrrha was regarding her with an amused expression, and Nora held a finger to her sticky lips secretively; Pyrrha nodded and departed without saying anything to Ren, hard at work making Nora's pancakes.

"Where did—" began Ren after several minutes of silence, before stopping short as he took in Nora's syrupy mouth and pried the jar from her fingers a moment later. "You know, I had hoped to actually _taste _some of this," he sighed, looking disappointingly into the empty jar.

"What, you've never had any of this stuff?" exclaimed Nora, aghast. "How could you let me eat all of it while _you_ worked to get it?" she added, scuttling closer to him and prodding his chest accusingly.

Ren glanced down briefly and flipped the pancakes over. "You were enjoying yourself," he said eventually, meeting Nora's eyes with a somewhat embarrassed expression. "I didn't want to interrupt you."

Nora studied Ren's face carefully. Lately, he had seemed to be much more on edge when he was talking to her—like something had shifted between them for some reason. He had much more trouble looking at her, and though he had never been one to specifically watch her while she was dressing or undressing (a fact for which she had always respected him), Ren now refused to even face her direction more often than not.

"You said something about love," said Nora suddenly, initially not sure what had made her say that (but that was nothing new). "In the forest, when we were walking. Didn't you?"

Ren's eyes widened in alarm for a moment before he turned back to the pancakes, depositing them onto a plate conveniently included alongside the other ingredients. "Yes," he sighed, and Nora smiled, happy that she hadn't imagined it. "I said I loved being with you."

_That's what's wrong with him after all! …Maybe._

It wasn't as though the same thing hadn't been happening to Nora over the last several weeks, in a way, though she was much more relaxed about the idea as a whole. She wasn't worried about losing Ren as a friend; no matter what happened, she knew they would always be together one way or another, so why not try it out in a different context for awhile? Ren, meanwhile, seemed preoccupied with the one-or-the-other dilemma, and Nora longed to knock some sense into him and say they could be _both_.

But she was fine moving at whatever pace he needed her to, and if that meant holding off on any relationship beyond that of a friend for another several years, Nora would be content to wait for him. She was sure he was worth it, after all.

Though she _was_ rather curious about where his feelings stood at this point in time—and she resolved to find out, immediately after the thought crossed her mind.

As Ren continued to tend to the pancakes, Nora bit her lip excitedly as she got an idea. Smiling widely, she poked him on the shoulder; he jumped as though he had been so lost in thought that he had forgotten about her presence, and she pointed to her own still-sticky mouth.

"There's still _some _syrup left, if you want a taste."

And as Ren's eyes widened in shock and half-suppressed delight, pancakes momentarily abandoned, Nora wondered whether—if he were to accept her implied offer—that meant she was dreaming.

**((Sorry for the ridiculous delay in updating!**

**Meanwhile, in the story! No, they're not together-together just yet, as Nora might say—but they're drifting closer and closer together, that's for darn sure.))**


End file.
